Cave Country (Kentucky)

After getting the truck repaired, we waited for the rain to pass and get one more visit in with Bill & Debra before moving an hour south to Mammoth Cave National Park on Saturday.  We changed time zones, so we basically got there when we left.  Our good luck with weather continued.  We managed to get in 5-6 miles a day of hiking/walking for the three days we were there.  We passed on the bicycle path this year.  As the pictures show, you have to keep a good look out when walking around.  We found this deer relaxing under a rock out crop.

It's been five years since visiting Mammoth Cave NP (see May 2011 blog posts).  The visitors center and bus stops are completed.  The park service mimics a cave in the visitors center which I found nice & educational.  The hotel, gift shop and cafe were closed for renovations this time.  As we'd walk by the hotel, it looked like they just gutted it and started over.   Probably not a bad idea!

We stayed at Cave Country RV in Cave City, KY and found a new restaurant - Bucky Bees BBQ - that opened a week earlier.  We highly recommend both!  Yep, I continued to eat too much...I mean, we ate there twice in three days!

We cut our planned stay a day short to try to get around another cold front making nasty weather for this part of the country.  We drove a long day (for us) up to Indianapolis to a Yogi Bear Jellystone (Passport America RV park) in Knightstown, IN to let the front pass. We then drove our normal three hours to Shipshewana, IN to wait for our trailer service next week in Lagrange, IN

Planned for this stay is getting our bicycles serviced (Donna gets new tires), a front-end alignment for the truck and a couple of Ben's Pretzels.  We've noticed a slight drop in daily temperatures since arriving.  We'd manged to stay in high 60s to low 80s for daily highs  since leaving Gulf Shores, AL until we got to Shipshewana.  Today's high was 51 with - we're told - light snow showers.  We didn't see any snow, but we had our coats on and the heat pumps are running!  Nice to have a working electric fireplace, too!

One last comment before wrapping this post up:  Most of the RV parks we're staying at - except the Jellystone in Knightstown, IN - are close to full if not full when we stayed.  I don't know if that's because we're following I-75/I-65 travel routes for snowbirds or there's just more people RVing.  Since retiring we've routinely followed I-95 - a major north/south RV travel route - in spring, and it'd be hit/miss on whether a RV park would get full or not.  But we almost didn't get into Birmingham South this spring because we were so late with our reservation.  And unless you have friends or relatives in the Birmingham area, I know of no reason you'd stop and spend a lot of time there (and I grew up in that area!)  Even the Birmingham South campground host was trying to figure out why people were stopping there.  For the first time in our RV travels, Birmingham South had to put a "No Vacancy" sign & turn people away!  Cave Country RV stayed full.  Raccoon Valley (Escapees) was approaching full.  The KOA in Cleveland, TN got a lot of people the night we were there.  We couldn't get into the Holiday Travel Park in Chattanooga because it was full (on a Sunday night no less!)  Both overnighters we stayed on I-75 (trip south as well as trip north) were full.  I don't know, but it's not full here in Shipshewana. Most RV travel we see here is new stuff being pulled by transport companies.  Maybe the weather was warmer south and people started moving earlier?  I don't know...

Anyway, that's our week.  Everyone have a nice weekend.  We plan to!  David

Bardstown, KY

We've had a good, busy stay here in Bardstown, KY.  We're here visiting Bill & Debra at their Kentucky residence.  We've had the pleasure of them showing us around and buying us meals.    Lots more to do in the area than I would have thought.

Top picture:  Bernheim Arboretum & Forest.  We've spent a lot of time here walking & hiking in the area.  As you can tell, we hit the pretty season!

 Second picture from top: My Old Kentucky Home.  State park in Bardstown.  Worth a walk around plus the paid tour to see the interior and hear the tour guide sing "My Old Kentucky Home".

Picture to the right:  Holt's Campground.  Close to town.  Limited FHU sites.  Limited facilities.

 Picture to the right:  Maker's Mark Distillery.  You're in bourbon country when you're in the Bardstown area.  We visited during the arts & crafts weekend.

Next picture down:  Bill & Debra's barn.  Bill is blessed with an artistic talent.  You should see his coke machine he rebuilt!

Bottom picture is of the old school house near downtown Bardstown.

So you can see we've gotten out a lot.  Still lots more to do.  We originally planned to move to Cave City, KY & Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park today.  Based on the weather we actually planned to move yesterday afternoon, but it wasn't to be.

For the second time in a month, we've gotten a check engine light on the truck.  I've now learned that just getting the check engine light is generally an emissions control problem.

This time it was a fuel pressure sensor plus the computer had registered a cooling fan clutch issue.  We've having all that work done at Bill Collins Ford in Louisville.   This may be just a stage the truck's going through as all the sensors are at least seven years old.  We're suppose to get the truck back today which may or may not happen.  We've gone ahead and gotten the front & rear differentials serviced while they waited on parts.  And I'm finally getting the rear fender red clearance lights fixed.  We're hoping that replacing this sensor fixes the random issues the truck's been having since July of last year.

Interestingly, the only rental vehicle Enterprise had was a white 2016 F150 XLT 4X4 with a 11 miles on it & just the fuel that it was delivered with.  Not a fan of the XLT interior.  Nice truck, otherwise, plus it's nice to get that new vehicle smell when you open the door!

As in Stone Mountain, we've delayed our move until the rain passes.  May get our truck back today, but not holding our breath.  Probably tomorrow.   We've planned our move to Cave City for Saturday if all goes well.  Looks like a wet visit for Mammoth Cave next week, and move to Indiana.

Everyone have a great weekend! Later, David

Knoxville, TN

We had a good visit with Dad & Anna.  We left the Birmingham, AL area on Sunday to move to Knoxville, TN after an overnight stop in Cleveland, TN.  At Knoxville we visited with the RV dealer that sold us our trailer, drove down to Townsend, TN sightseeing & got a 2-hr walk in along the Maryville - Alcoa Greenway.  The pictures here are from that walk.  I have no idea just how long the greenway is as it connects to several other trails in the area.

Today we drove up to Bardstown, KY for a week's visit with Bill & Debra.  They've left the Gulfport, MS area for the summer and are now at their "summer" home near Bardstown.  We're settling in though we did get out with them to Elizabethtown for some quick shopping (Donna calls it "spear-it-and-leave") & dinner. 

Not a lot of RV parks in the area.  We're at Holt's Campground.  Pretty campground but very basic.  Large RV friendly with some FHU sites that have shared utilities.  Prettiest sites are 30 amp & water sites with a view of the lake out a back window.  Really nice people running the place, and they're slowly making progress in improving the amenities.   At the time we're here, restrooms & showers are closed for renovation.

That's it from us.  Looks like Bill & Debra have given us a lot of choices of things to do in the area.  Guess we need to do some planning.  Later, David

@ B'ham, AL

"Brazil is the nation of the future.  Always has been.  Always will be."  With the summer Olympics approaching, there's lot of talk by the various business channels' talking heads about Brazil becoming a good foreign investment spot.  I don't know who said the above statement in quotes, but remember it if you start looking at any investments in Brazil.

Apologize for no pictures this week.  We've got some, but nothing you'd want to see.  This is the 30-day window to tell Indiana Interstate Enterprise/Cross RV what service needs to be done on the trailer.  Too easy to send a picture from the phone of what's broken and/or needs to be repaired or replaced.  On the plus side:  I've finally learned how to focus the smartphone camera on a specific spot so the picture is clearer on the item that needs fixin'.

We're continuing our friends & family visit here in Alabama.  We've just about got to visit everyone we planned to.  Everyone seems to be doing OK.  Had lunch at Debbie & Dean's house with Nick, Amanda, Dad & Anna.  Got to eat at the Iron Skillet with Dad & Anna, Billy & Eileen.  Last evening we went downtown with Randy & Harolda for the Birmingham Art Crawl & dinner at John's Diner.  Saw where their daughter lived in the "lofts" (apartments above street level businesses).   Given the gang violence that's being reported around Birmingham, the area seemed pretty safe.

I wouldn't consider Birmingham an RV resort area.  We're staying at Birmingham South Campground in Pelham, AL  It's an old KOA that while not a particularly pretty place to stay, has good water, power, clean restrooms & is big rig friendly.  Really good as an overnight stop to/from Gulf Shores, AL.  If you have a Tiffin RV, it's a good place to sit awaiting your service appointment.   If you're looking for true camping atmosphere, try Oak Mountain State Park or possibly Tannehill Ironworks Historical Park.

Finally, current plans are to leave here Sunday and head to Bardstown, KY with stops in Chattanooga & Knoxville.  As always, it's just a plan.  Later, David